After we arrived at the inn, I finally allowed myself to relax. The dim glow of the lanterns on the walls painted everything in warm hues, yet my gaze was drawn once more to Igami. No matter how many times I looked at her, I found myself trapped in the oceanic depth of her beauty—her hair shimmered like threads of sapphire under the candlelight, and her eyes, crystalline blue, seemed to hold entire worlds within them.
"Igami" I murmured softly, unable to tear my vision away from her. "What did you think back there? My powers… are they interesting?"
She tilted her head, a gentle smile curving her lips as though I had asked the most obvious question in the world. With a graceful nod, she replied "I didn't expect anything less from you, my master." Her voice was warm, almost reverent, and before I could respond, she leaned forward to place a delicate kiss upon my forehead.
But the moment shattered in an instant.
Her expression froze, and all warmth drained from her face. I felt her body stiffen beside me. "Something's wrong" she whispered, her eyes narrowing as she turned toward one of the inn's walls. For a few tense seconds, she simply stared at the seemingly empty surface—until her hand rose abruptly, summoning a shimmering barrier of azure light in front of us.
A heartbeat later, the world erupted.
BOOOOM!
The inn quaked violently as a deafening explosion tore through it. A section of the wall disintegrated in a storm of splinters and dust, leaving behind a gaping hole that led directly into the night.
"Damn it! What the hell just happened?!" I snarled, striding toward the massive breach.
Through the settling smoke, two figures emerged. The first was a woman—her presence fiery in every sense of the word. In her outstretched hand hovered a blazing orb of flame, its heat distorting the air around her. Clutched in her other hand was a long, gleaming staff, and her voice rang out with an imperious authority that made the hairs on my arms stand on end.
"I know you two are there!" she bellowed. "Come down here immediately! This is an order from the Light Empire!"
Beside her stood a silent man. Unlike her, he said nothing, but the sheer weight of his presence spoke volumes. He gripped a massive shield almost as tall as himself, the steel surface etched with intricate golden runes. The two of them radiated danger, their very stance exuding discipline and raw power.
"System" I called within my mind, my eyes narrowing as I measured the intruders. "Who are they?"
The response came swiftly, cold and precise:
[Answer: They are the elite of the Light Empire, the pinnacle of strength known as the Sacred Knights. Feared across the continent, they are among the most formidable beings in this universe, their number are unknown. Warning: you are free to engage them as you wish. Your true targets remain: the Hero, and the Demon Queen.]
My lips curled slowly into a grin. "Wait… so you're telling me I can beat them around—just for fun?"
[Answer : Affirmative.]
A thrill ran down my spine, intoxicating in its promise of violence. The fear in the air, the flames crackling at the woman's hand, the silent pressure radiating from the man's shield—it all only made my grin grow wider.
I exhaled a low chuckle that sharpened into something darker. "Heh… so be it."
I lifted a single finger, pointing directly at the knight with the massive shield. My command came out simple, calm, yet absolute
"Attack."
Without hesitation, Igami moved like lightning. The air cracked as she dashed forward, her speed a blur of blue hair and raw power. In the blink of an eye, her foot collided with the knight's shield with enough force to send the towering man hurtling backward. The impact rang out like a thunderclap, and his armored body crashed several meters away, tearing up dirt and stone in his path.
"Take care of him" I said, my lips curving into a wicked smile. "Have fun, if you may."
Igami landed gracefully, turning her head just enough for me to catch her serious expression. She gave a sharp nod before darting after him, her figure vanishing in a streak of speed as she pursued the knight into the distance. The sounds of their battle began to echo faintly—metal clashing, ground breaking—but I didn't spare it more than a passing thought.
Now, it was just the woman and me.
I jump from the inn hole landing gracefully and I let my footsteps echo deliberately as I closed the distance, my voice dropping into something low and almost frightening in its calmness. "It's just you and me now."
The woman smiled, baring her teeth with the same confidence as someone who believed she was already victorious. She lifted her staff and lowered into a combat stance, firelight flickering around her like a living aura.
"You sent your… maid to die, huh?" she said mockingly, her tone dripping with condescension.
I chuckled darkly, shaking my head. "Oh no, my dear enemy" I replied, every word sharpened by certainty. "I sent my maid to finish your fellow knight. He will not be a problem for her."
Her smirk faltered for the briefest of moments, but I didn't give her time to retort.
I raised my hand, summoning the air around me into an unnatural stillness. Six glowing spheres of deep blue light flickered into existence, hovering around me in a perfect orbit. Each one pulsed with compressed mana, humming with a dangerous intensity that warped the air. Their surfaces glimmered like miniature stars, yet their nature was far more lethal.
"These" I said, my voice echoing with pride and menace "are my element-locked cores. Each one is bound to a single element, unable to waver from its nature. Fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, and ice…"
The spheres glowed brighter, colors shifting faintly as their true powers awakened. The temperature began to fluctuate wildly—heat, cold, static electricity—like the world itself was bending under the weight of contained chaos.
I smiled again, this time with unrestrained malice. "I thought it only fair to show off a little, before I break you."
To be honest I don't even know if they work like that...I just want to appear menacing...
The woman's sharp gaze flicked toward the six glowing spheres orbiting me. For a moment she simply studied them, her smile tugging wider as if she had just spotted a child's trick.
"Low-level spells?" she murmured mockingly, her tone slow and dripping with disdain.
Before I could respond, she tapped the base of her staff once against the floor. The sound was deceptively soft—clack—yet the result was devastating. In an instant, all six of my elemental spheres winked out of existence, snuffed like fragile candles before a gust of wind. The fluctuating heat and chill they radiated vanished into nothing, leaving the air still, empty, and unnervingly calm.
I froze, my eyes widening in disbelief. A ripple of genuine surprise coursed through me.
For a second, silence hung between us, broken only by the faint crackle of her still-smoldering fire magic. I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with a refreshing breath, steadying myself.
System… why the hell can she do that?! I demanded in my mind.
The cold, measured voice answered immediately:
[Answer: Your spheres contained only a small quantity of mana. As a result, the spell was weak, appearing as low-level magic. Easily erased.]
Shock coursed through me. There's… there's that too?!
[Answer: Correct. Perhaps you should attempt again—this time pour more of your endless mana into the spell and watch as the magic happens.]
. . . Bad joke.
A slow grin spread across my face, the sting of embarrassment quickly giving way to anticipation.
Right.
I fixed my eyes on the woman, who was watching me with smug confidence, her staff still pulsing faintly with magical energy. Without warning, I raised my hand and open my palm.
[Air Cannon].
This time, I didn't let it automatically take mana into the cast—I poured it in, tried to intentionally pour a lot of mana into it. The air screamed as it bent to my will, compressing violently into a force visible to the naked eye. With a thunderous blast, the condensed pressure erupted forward, striking her squarely.
Her smug smile vanished the moment the spell connected.
The shockwave hurled her across the street like a ragdoll, the force so overwhelming that her body smashed into a nearby building. The impact thundered, stone and timber exploding outward as the entire structure groaned—and then collapsed in on itself, burying her beneath a storm of rubble and dust.
For a moment, I stood perfectly still, blinking at the devastation I had just unleashed. The collapsed building sent a plume of dirt spiraling into the night sky.
Did I… overdo it? I asked uncertainly, my lips twitching between guilt and amusement.
The System's voice came without hesitation:
[Answer: Compared to your earlier attempt… that was a direct equivalent to a nuclear bomb.]
A long, tired sigh escaped me as I dragged a hand down my face. …Yeah. I definitely overdid it.
The wreckage of the collapsed building stirred, then shimmered unnaturally. My eyes widened as the mountain of rubble began to unravel—not crumbling, not breaking apart, but disintegrating into nothingness, reduced to the very atoms that once held it together. Within the settling haze of dust stood the woman, her figure emerging like a phantom of wrath.
Her eyes burned with a ferocity that could pierce steel, an unhinged rage twisting her expression into something primal. "You!" she roared, her voice cracking with fury. "How dare you hide your strength from me!?"
Before I could react, she lunged. Her entire body was a blur of movement as she lifted her staff overhead, channeling raw power into the strike. She brought it down with devastating force, the very air trembling under the weight of her magic-infused blow.
I moved at the last possible heartbeat, shifting just enough for the strike to narrowly graze past me. The staff slammed into the ground, the impact detonating like a bomb. The earth split apart as a crater the size of a small house erupted where I had been standing, dirt and stone flung high into the air.
"Hey, hey now!" I called out almost playfully, weaving away from her furious onslaught as she swung again and again, each strike rattling the earth. "Don't rush things—you'll tire yourself out."
Her attacks were fast, furious, relentless. Yet every time her staff cut through the air, I slipped aside by a breath, dancing just outside of death's reach. Then, finally, her weapon collided with something solid.
Me.
Her eyes lit up with savage delight, triumphant—until her smile froze. Instead of being smashed into the ground, she found her staff caught mid-swing. My hand gripped the weapon firmly, the glowing wood trembling against my palm but unable to move an inch further.
I leaned in slightly, smirking. "What's your name, huh? Cutie."
For a heartbeat, surprise flickered across her face… and then, unexpectedly, she grinned. The rage in her eyes was joined by something else now—amusement, even thrill at my audacity. "Natasha" she replied with a daring smile of her own.
"Natasha" I repeated with a nod, savoring the sound of it. "Good name."
And before she could respond, I tightened my grip and drove a punch into her midsection. The force sent her flying, her body twisting through the air before slamming into the ground with bone-rattling impact.
But I wasn't finished. My fingers curled, channeling mana into the earth itself. "Let's try this…"
[Earth Bind]
The ground beneath her writhed, shifting unnaturally like a living thing. The dirt and stone twisted into tendrils that lashed around her limbs, coiling tight and pinning her to the ground. She struggled, snarling, but her movements grew sluggish as the spell revealed its true nature—the soil itself drank her mana everytime she moved, draining her strength with every passing second.
I approached slowly, hands behind my back as though we were merely having a casual conversation rather than standing in the middle of a ruined battlefield. "Say" I asked, tilting my head, "why do you want to kill me?"
The fight seemed to drain from her shoulders as she exhaled a long sigh. For the first time, her voice was calm—almost weary. "Orders were given… and well" she muttered, her gaze lowering briefly before finding mine again "I need the money too for specific reasons" I nod slowly.
"I understand…" The words left my lips heavier than I intended, my chest tightening with the weight of them. My gaze lingered on Natasha, her body still bound by the mana-draining earth, her fierce eyes dulled now with exhaustion. I let out a quiet sigh and forced myself to say what needed to be said. "I'm sorry… but you're still my enemy."
Even as I spoke, a part of me resisted. It wasn't hatred I felt when I looked at her—it was sorrow. I could sense it clearly now, a thread of foreign power woven into her mind, tugging her thoughts like a puppeteer pulling strings. A strong mind control spell. She wasn't free. She was forced into this.
If I wanted to release her, I would have to end her as she was now. Only then could she be freed.
The System's voice cut through my thoughts, crisp and cold:
[Notification: Analysis completed. Character "Natasha" added to summon list. Character "Rumeos" added to summon list.]
Another line followed immediately after:
[Notification: Character "Rumeos" is male by origin. Adjusted—gender bent.]
I blinked, momentarily stunned. Huh? What?
The System elaborated, its voice as detached as ever:
[Answer: The system continuously analyzes new beings. Once conditions are met, they are added to the Summon List for easier access—and convenience.]
My brows furrowed. But… wasn't Natasha under mind control? Wouldn't that carry over?
[Answer: Negative. When a being is summoned, all ailments, corruptions, and external controls are purged. They are always restored to their best possible state.]
I let out a long exhale, my tension easing slightly. …Makes sense.
But when I glanced down to where Natasha had been pinned, my breath caught. The ground was empty. The bindings remained, but she was gone.
"Where is she?!" I demanded aloud this time, my voice echoing across the fractured street.
The System replied without delay.
[Answer: With the fight concluded, she had a moment of freedom and decided to end herself using an overload of mana on her brain, her core gave up since there was no more life in the body and it simply crumbled away with her body.]
I closed my eyes briefly, letting the explanation settle. "…I see."
My thoughts shifted immediately. "Where's Igami?"
[Answer: She is unharmed. As you can deduce, she defeated Rumeos—hence his inclusion in the Summon List. You may call her back with a mana signal, or simply unsummon her and resummon her at will.]
Relief washed through me, a subtle warmth stirring beneath the remnants of battle's tension. My hand clenched softly at my side. "Good. That's all I needed to hear."
"Wait but...when I summoned Rimuru you didn't change his gender" I ask now curiously and like a spark to gasoline the answer immediately comes.
[Answer : Rimuru is genderfluid, his body show female characteristics but he is a man, so those type of characters can be chosen to be summoned as female or male]
Isn't that a little too convenient?
[Play recording : "only the best for the best!" Source : Goddess_Daughter.]
. . . Heh I see...damn she is a good programmer...this system is fucking amazing!
"So the summons knows exactly what mana quantity they need to do my bidding? like Ramiel absolutely destroyed that goblin village"
[Answer : correct, it obliterated the goblin village because you wanted to do so, the summons are absolutely loyal, doesn't matter how rebel or psychopathic it is in its main universe, it will be loyal, obedient and would kill to receive a single praise from you]
Damn...that's good!
I waited in silence for a few seconds, the faint hum of mana still lingering in the air around me. Then, with a thought, I sent out the signal.
By the time I blinked, she was already there. Igami materialized before me with the grace of a shadow slipping into place, her knee bent, her head lowered in reverence.
"Master" she murmured, her voice steady as steel "I have returned."
I tilted my head down toward her, curiosity edging my ton "So… how did it go?"
Her sapphire eyes lifted to meet mine, unwavering and confident. "It was easy" she said without hesitation. "I had to hold back… otherwise, I would have ended him in a single strike."
Her words carried no arrogance—only truth. And I knew, beyond doubt, that she wasn't lying. She never lied.
I exhaled softly, allowing myself a small smile. "As expected from you, Igami."
I start to walk forward towards the city, my boots crunching against the fractured ground. She moved instantly to my side, following me with her usual quiet devotion.
"So" I asked, my tone light but tinged with curiosity "what should we do now?"
Her answer came without pause. "I suggest we go after the Hero."
I stopped mid-step, turning my head to her in mild surprise. "Already?"
She nodded, her expression unreadable but her voice sharp with conviction. "Yes. I am… growing disgusted with this place." Her eyes swept over the ruined streets, the smoke curling in the air, the scent of ash and charred wood that lingered still.
"Why is that?" I asked.
This time, she looked surprised—like I had just asked something so obvious it shouldn't even need to be said. "Because this wretched place does not suit you, Master. It is beneath you. A world so filthy and broken does not deserve to touch someone of your divine level."
Her words rang with sincerity, not flattery, and I felt the weight of her loyalty in them. I gave a small nod, acknowledging her reasoning, and together we walked a few more paces in silence before I opened a teleportation circle.
A pulse of light enveloped us, and in an instant, we were back at the inn.
The room was quiet, almost serene now despite the earlier chaos. I sat down on the edge of the bed, letting the tension in my shoulders ease. Igami moved to the ruined wall, raising one elegant hand. With a whisper of arcane syllables, the shattered stone and splintered wood began to reassemble. Not only was the wall restored, but it gleamed with a strength and polish greater than before—as if it had never been touched by destruction.
I leaned back slightly, watching her work with a quiet warmth tugging at my chest. When she finished, I couldn't help but smile.
"Amazing as always" I said, my voice carrying both admiration and affection.
Igami turned toward me, her calm eyes softening at my praise, and for just a moment, the weight of the world outside the inn seemed to fade away.
--
Bigger chapter to compensate my disappearance.